Pathways
by EmeraldTyphoon47
Summary: Wan Shi Tong decides to get revenge for what Aang did by trapping Jinora in a book, instead of giving her to Unalaq. Now, trapped in a strange realm within a realm while being stalked by a supernatural abomination and facing the omnipresent threat of being lost forever, Jinora's fate is uncertain and she'll need to do anything necessary to survive.
1. Lost in the Unknown

"My grandfather was the Avatar, and I came to the Spirit World with the new Avatar to find the spirit portals. I would think that you'd wanna help me."

Wan Shi Tong was surprised by this revelation. The young Air Nomad girl, upon closer examination, truly did resemble the treacherous Avatar who previously visited his library, 71 years ago. "You came with the Avatar, hm? Well, why didn't you say so! Fine, you may look around. But don't break anything- I'll know." As he flew away and heard Jinora telling her spirit companion to hurry, the old owl contemplated his next move _. I have the perfect opportunity to get my revenge. The Avatar will pay for lying to me and misusing my knowledge for the sake of more meaningless and eternal petty conflicts carried out by the humans. But now I have a chance to punish him for his folly. But what can I do to his granddaughter? Perhaps I can hand her over to Unalaq; a true friend of the Spirits like him would more than likely put her to good use. No….I need to make sure Avatar Aang's legacy suffers enormously first. But how?_ As Wan Shi Tong considered how he could get revenge, an idea came to him. _Of course. She even suggested it herself. Well, if she wants to stay in my library forever, then I'll let her wish come true._ Wan Shi Tong silently swooped back into his library and went to a secret part, filled with a collection of rare and dangerous books. Books that were meant to be entrances to other worlds.

 _Avatar Aang said that he only came to appreciate my vast collection of knowledge. Though his lie was obvious I still let him in. His granddaughter is probably here to discover new information to_ _aid her allies_ _in whatever petty human conflict is going on now. I'll be sure to let her appreciate the knowledge I've collected to its full extent._ As he finished the thought, Wan Shi Tong found the book he was looking for. It was arguably out of place within his vast collection as its design alone was in a completely alien style and the title was written in a script incomprehensible to anyone besides himself. _At least that's what I believe. I still know what the title is and the type of world it leads to. Will she be able to survive? It'll be interesting if she does._ After admiring the book's design and skimming through a few pages, Wan Shi Tong flew up and searched for Jinora. She wasn't difficult to find, and the owl noted how she had already gathered a large collection of books to peruse at her leisure. _Probably planning to take them with her. A thief. Just like her great uncle Sokka. But she's clearly more intelligent. Still, I won't fall for any tricks she attempts. And she'll probably do better than offering low-quality knots as displays of knowledge_. As he approached the girl, her spirit friend mewed in fear and attempted to hide behind her. Jinora turned to face him.

"Wan Shi Tong, is there something wrong? I haven't broken anything and I'm only gathering these books because they look like they'll contain the information I need."

"There's no need to worry. I just thought I could perhaps help you find what you're looking for. I'd also like to know about the situation of the physical world nowadays. Perhaps your knowledge would be more reliable than that of my Knowledge Seekers, who clearly don't know how to operate modern technology that even a little girl can explain. But clearly, you're smarter than the average human. Tell me more." Wan Shi Tong decided to put in some flattery to make her lower her guard. Just as he expected, Jinora smiled and started talking.

"Well, I came here with the current Avatar to help her close the Spirit Portal. She opened it at the South Pole but it was actually a mistake. And she can't go back to close it since the Water Tribes are now at war with each other. I'm looking for a book that would help me find the portals and also Korra, if possible."

 _Meddling with the affairs of us Spirits and realizing it's a mistake. Typical Avatar. Still, if she closes the portal, it may interfere with Unalaq's plan to create a new spiritual age…there's no doubt on what I must now do._ "I think I have just the book for you." "You do?" "Yes. It's a book about a different world, which could possibly help you in your quest to close the portals. As you'll need vast spiritual knowledge in order to do so. Reading this book may allow you to train yourself." "That would be wonderful. Please show me." Wan Shi Tong turned and gestured for Jinora to follow. The librarian led the girl deeper into the library and on occasion she had to be flown across certain sections by Furryfoot. Eventually, they reached an ebony bookshelf with a collection of books Jinora had never seen before.

"These are amazing. I've never seen books like these before." As she picked some out she continued her observations. "They're all in scripts I've never seen before and their designs….beautiful and unlike anything I've ever encountered." She noticed labels at the bottom of each book's spine and read them out loud. " _Journal #3, Tragedy of a Lithuanian Immigrant in Chicago, Trodain's Finest Son, The Gloomsville Records, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, The Terror of Majora, An Anthology From An Algerian Harem, Heroes of Time and Darkness and the Eternal Sky, Rise of the Irken Empire_ …. These are so intriguing. I won't be able to read these but I have a feeling I'd learn a lot from them."

Wan Shi Tong decided that now was the time to make his move. "I'm glad you've taken a fancy to my collection. These are all books about different worlds. The one I wanted to show you is this one." As he brought out the book he wanted to show her, Jinora stared at its cover in awe. "It's called _The Tome of the Unknown_." Wan Shi Tong then turned the cover and showed her a small song written inside. "Read this out loud." "But I've never seen this script before." "Focus, and try your best, and you will. This part of the library has been blessed by my Knowledge Seekers with a special energy that will allow you to read any script so long as you focus." As Jinora did as she was advised to, the words suddenly became clear to her. She read the song out loud.

 _"Led through the mist by the milk-light of moon_ _  
_ _All that was lost is revealed_ _  
_ _Our long bygone burdens, mere echoes of the spring_ _  
_ _But where have we come, and where shall we end?_ _  
_ _If dreams can't come true, then why not pretend?"_

As she read the last word, the book started to glow and it started to suck her in. As she looked up, she saw that Wan Shi Tong had a victorious smirk on his face. "Consider this punishment for what your grandfather did!" As Jinora turned to run, she felt herself being pulled back and eventually found herself being lifted into the air and towards the book. "Ahhh! Furryfoot! Help me!" The dragonfly-rabbit spirit approached, but this only led to it being sucked in as well. Eventually the book swallowed the both of them and Wan Shi Tong closed it. As he walked away he talked to himself. "You've misused my vast collection and stole several works for your own insipid wars. In other words you misused and stole what I love. Well, I've done the same to someone you love. Consider us even now, Avatar Aang. It'll be interesting to see if she survives."


	2. The Forest of the Dead

Long bygone burdens

Lost in the thick mists of time

Manifest again

Like rusty bells they still chime

In perpetual darkness

Emptiness.

That was all she saw and felt for a while. As she realized that she was falling without really falling, and saw nothing around her, she didn't realize when it would end. Eventually, she saw the ground rushing towards her, and as she landed, she didn't feel any pain, to her surprise. The young Air Nomad girl eventually stumbled into a clearing where she saw several trees with face-like designs, each face with an expression twisted in agony. She observes each one and as she nears the last tree she sees that the face it displays is her own but without an anguished expression; her face, as shown in the tree, merely shows uncertainty. With a horrified look she decides to run away but as she turns she sees a shadowy figure standing before her. As she screams the figure lunges towards her.

Everything goes dark… she awakens in a cold, dark, house on the edge of a country road and can only hear the faint blowing of the wind through the darkness. She runs her tongue over her teeth and the iron bitterness of blood stimulates her taste buds, only she realizes that she shouldn't be bleeding as she's in the Spirit World. She attempts to wipe her eyes, but realizes her wrists are bound. She tries to scream, but her vocal cords are paralyzed from fear. She realizes her feet aren't bound, however, so she quickly gets up and runs out of the house. The world she's in seems to be a depressive place, and she can only hear the wind howl and see perpetual darkness around her and the house she was trapped in situated next to a dirt road. The moon is full and blood red. _A harvest moon. But what is it supposed to mean?_ She decided to return to the clearing she originally stumbled into to see if she could get out.

Jinora rushed into the dark forest once more. She found some gnarled branches with sharp edges and used them to cut the ropes binding her wrists together. "Now I need to figure out where exactly I am, and why my own face was displayed in that tree." She thought out loud as she continued to walk, confident that no one else would be around to eavesdrop. "Wan Shi Tong tricked me. I can't believe he'd do that. And what was he talking about when he said this was punishment for what grandpa Aang did? He didn't try to do anything wrong. His journals said that what he did to find out that Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse was absolutely essential for ending the war. Sure the invasion of the Fire Nation failed, but there's no way he could've known that was going to happen. And it was Earth King Kuei's fault for telling Azula what the plans were anyways." She eventually found herself in the same clearing she was originally in. The same ring of trees was around and she once again found each of the faces disturbing. As she once again approached the tree with her own face, she saw, to her horror, that the expression displayed on the tree was that of pure terror, and she realized that it was probably the face she made when the shadowy figure assaulted her. She quickly checked her surroundings. _I can't let that thing ambush me a second time._ She kept her thoughts in her head this time, not wanting the monster in the darkness to possibly hear her. _I'm lost in a bizarre realm within the Spirit World itself, Korra's probably found the portals and closed them by now, even if I somehow get out of this realm Wan Shi Tong would still be able to find me and either trap me again or try to get revenge some other way, and that's_ if _I can even get out of this place._

As she realized how hopeless her situation was, she started to feel something odd. As she tried to move, she felt her feet being tangled up by a plant of some sort. Jinora looked down and saw that brown roots were slowly moving up her thighs and gripping her tightly. She quickly tore them off, untangled her feet, and ran. _Whatever this place is, it doesn't want me to escape!_ She decided to leave the forest for the time being, not wanting those roots to grab her again.

Eventually, she found herself once again near the country road. She approached the house she was trapped in, to see if there are any clues, when she noticed something different. _Someone's inside the house._ Jinora silently peaked through the window and saw a man with a top hat, a gray coat, and a bundle of chopped wood on his back. The man seemed to be taking some branches and talking to an oddly colored lantern. _I wonder why it's flashing like that. Is it somehow connected to the spirits?_ Jinora decided that she wasn't going to get any clues and turned away. She walked down the road, in the direction of the red moon. _I can't give in to despair. I have to find a way out of this place._ She turned around and thought of going back to the house she was held captive in earlier. _Maybe that man in the house could've helped me. But at the same time, he could be the man who knocked me out and took me into the house as his captive in the first place and I have no idea what I'd do if that's the case._ As she walked, she failed to notice the glowing eyes behind her, observing her every step with great interest.


End file.
